Obama is deceiving Hispanics on immigration

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/2...panics-on.html



BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
[email protected]

There is nothing astonishing about the fact that President Barack Obama’s Republican critics claim that he is taking U.S. Hispanics for a ride on immigration issues. What’s surprising is that some of Obama’s closest Democratic allies are beginning to say the same thing.

Virtually all Hispanic Democrats in the U.S. Congress — they include the only Hispanic Democratic Senator, Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey — are stepping up their criticism of Obama for not doing more on the immigration front.

Last week, I was amazed by what I heard from Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, a Democratic congressman from Chicago — the president’s hometown — and longtime Obama backer. Gutierrez was visiting Miami as part of a national tour to denounce Obama’s immigration stand, saying that he is playing games with Hispanics by claiming to be fighting for a comprehensive immigration reform, while not doing anything to stop massive deportations of people who shouldn’t be deported.

Obama has in recent weeks stepped up calls for congressional approval of an immigration overhaul that would both secure the border, and offer a path to earned legalization to millions of undocumented residents who are willing to pay penalties and learn English.

He had pledged during the 2008 campaign that he would pass such a law during his first year in office.

But Gutierrez and growing numbers of Democrats in Congress say that Obama’s immigration reform campaign is political posturing, because the president knows that he won’t get the votes for congressional passage of a comprehensive immigration reform in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Obama’s rhetoric may help win Hispanic votes for the 2012 elections by showing Republicans as the stumbling block for immigration reform, but is creating false expectations among Hispanics, they say.

So what should Obama do, I asked Gutierrez. There are many things Obama can do with discretionary powers he already has, without going to Congress, Gutierrez said.

First, Obama could use existing presidential powers to stop deportations of the estimated 65,000 undocumented students who were brought to the United States as children, and who graduate from high school every year, and want to enter college or the armed forces, Gutierrez said. Obama has called repeatedly for congressional passage of the Dream Act, which would allow these youths to stay, but is not using his discretionary powers to delay their deportations until Congress decides on their fate, he added.

Second, Obama should use his executive powers to delay deportation of the parents of the estimated four million U.S.-born children who have at least one parent who does not have legal status, he said.

If the Obama administration recently used discretionary powers to give temporary residency status to Haitian immigrants to avoid their deportation to earthquake-devastated Haiti, why not give a similar relief to Mexicans who face deportation to violence-ridden Ciudad Juárez, he asked.

So why is Obama not doing any of this? I asked Gutierrez.

“The president doesn’t feel the pressure to do it, because he feels that Latinos will vote for him anyway,” he said. “But this is a matter of life and death, that has to be taken seriously, and not be used to deceive the Latino community as we come near the next elections.”

Responding to such criticism, Obama said in a recent speech in El Paso, Texas, “I wish I could simply bypass Congress and change the law myself, but that’s not how a democracy works.” A White House official told me that, while the administration continues to push for immigration reform in Congress, it is changing the way it enforces deportation procedures, focusing on removing undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

My opinion: Obama’s calls for congressional passage of a comprehensive immigration reform are a good electoral strategy to gain sympathies among Hispanics ahead of the 2012 elections, but is raising false expectations within the Latino community.

Obama should stop playing this game. Instead of fearing being criticized by Hispanic-phobic anti-immigration zealots for allegedly pursuing a blanket “amnesty” for 11 million undocumented residents, he should use his discretionary powers to give temporary status to some categories of immigrants.

For instance, as he said in his State of the Union address, “it makes no sense” to deport thousands of undocumented students who grew up as Americans, or others — including many from China, India and other parts of the world — who came to study in some of the best U.S. universities, and upon obtaining advanced degrees are “sent back home to compete against us.” Obama can stop their deportations, but — as far as we know — isn’t doing so.

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Tell you what I was extremely excited when I heard that Obama's aunty was given a reprieve...I thought he would do the same for his country folk as well..I was dumbfounded Twisted man is Obama...can't believe I shed tears of joy to celebrate his 2008 election. Although I realize now that sadness I felt on the morning when John Kerry conceded to Bush wasn't really worth it because there's a good chance Kerry would've played politics with Immigration as well.

im sure being a president is not all that easy....

01101 01001

You think a child who came here at the age of 2-5 is at fault because their parents brought them here? What do you expect the child to do, to make the decision to leave America because their visas expired or they entered the country illegally?

Doubt this. A Republican that's elected by America, will obviously be a moderate candidate. Especially when independent "moderate" voters are at a sky-high %. The immigration system isn't something you can ignore and it magically fixes itself. Same goes for the 10-11 million illegal immigrants in the US, you can't deport them all because costs are too high...

woa actually 1.3 billion

I have live under 11 US presidents, you haven't I have seen the sea-change in the way that has happened in US politics as I have. I come to think if the Right-Wingers were nasty to Pres. Clinton, they are explosive towards Pres. Obama.
Also let's not try to say that all childern of illegal immigrants were 2-5 years old when they were brought to the USA, that not a fact and many of you know it.
How many of you came here when you were 7 to 16 years old ? Really were you all that clueless as to what mommy, daddy and any other relative who brought here was doing? For the older ones I don't think so. Have you ever watched Nat. Geo. show "Border Wars"? Do you think those little kids who were being smuggled in didn't know what was happening? Yes, they did.
The point is your relative got you in this position not the USA. But USA is very generous in that it does guarantee you a public education K thru 12 legal or not.
As a USC I had to have a SS number and vacine record before I could get my kid in school years ago. A USC has to jump thru hoops to register their kids in any public school and your parents just have to show up with you and you're enrolled, kind of unfair isn't it? Don't you see why the majority of USC's are angry?

As for a moderate Republican as president, hey they'll all play the moderate until their elected and then watch and see what happens. First of all remember any GOP
President will want to be re-elected that will not happen if he or she signs CIR or the DA into law. Although I do think the Dream Act is less riskly. Now if the Congress still has the basic same make-up with the GOP and Tea-Party in the House of Representatives and the Democrats still have the Senate it's the same thing no passing the CIR or DA. 30 years ago members of both parties were more civil to each other, not so today. I have never seen such ugliness and down right hate in US politics until now. What has changed is that we have FOX News which works to push the Right-Wingers buttons and believe me they're doing a good job of it too.
The bigger the lie the more it's believed. I, myself don't belong to either party, but I will say is the Democrats in general are more for the average working person.
But that said they have there own set of problems.
What will work in Pres. Obama favor is that Osama Bin Laden was taken out on his order, which makes him in the eyes of 54% of USC's a strong president capable of protect this country.

Remember this John McCain was for both CIR and the Dream Act at one time. What's happened to him any other Republican who's was for either one? They have been threated with being voted out of office, so they tuck tail and backed off that 3rd rail issue. Also having the Tea-Party in Congress isn't ever going to help your cause or the USA in general. The Tea-Party is now telling the GOP what to do and they don't want CIR or any type of Dream Act period. On the other hand you have the Blue-Dog Democrats who are almost like the GOP but just tend to be more conservative then the average Democrat. Well they might not vote for either CIR or DA. I'm not saying all this to burst your bubble, what I am telling you is the truth.
If the GOP and the Tea-Party don't care about the average poor and working class American citizen, why in heaven's name do you think they'll care about you or anyone in this country illegally?
It took years of protesting, marchs, violence, blood and death to even get the Civil Rights Act passed. And that was with black and white Americans working together to make it happen. Sure in 2006 a million people marched for against the bill that would have made a felony to be in the USA illegally. But all it did in the end is to piss off a large segment of US citizens. Do you know how it looked to have people in this country illegally marching in our streets for rights they don't have. I'm not talking about basic human rights either. But to demand that the US make you citizens because you're in here illegally and have children? Marching in the streets with flags of your home country, yelling how proud you are to be, say a Mexican? Do you know what the average USC's attitude was? If your so damn proud, go back home!!

Most USC's don't like that many illegal immigrants don't even speak English and that Spanish is being push on them. This a English-speaking country, it is not Latin America. Remember change takes time, I know how many Americans think and they are not happy with Hispanics basically working to take over this country.
The negative levels are so high it's scary. And add to the fact 14 million Americans are out of work and you can have a voltile mix. Look at what high unemployment has done in so many countries. I have said Americans while generous can be a very insular people who will protect what they think is theires

As said if it were only a couple of hundred thousand CIR and DA would have passed along time ago. 11 to 20 plus million? What message would the USA be sending?
Amnesty was given in 1986 and US citizens were told this never happen again. Well here we again! The question is when will it end? Will US citizens be asked the same thing 20 years from now? That is why CIR is having such a tough time as the Dream Act. Do you think the average USC cares if you become the next doctor who treats them? No they don't. I, on the other hand try to see the potential in anyone. If the DA ever passes you have my blessings. But learn to be better then what the wealthly 2% are and do right for all those at the bottem.

damn dude, you should come w/a disclaimer recommending cliffnotes.

pup081 made a long post. Who actually finished reading it?
Not me. LOL All I read was slanted-eyes...

Obama is not deciving. But he needs to get his guts together. I mean sure he gains something and we gain something. We rely on the dem, so we need to wait. But can they just make more compromise with the Republican?

Can we take a full debate on the issue already?

thats a good way to sum it up, just remember slaves didnt have rightss either, yet politicians in the south still gave them a 3/5ths human person deifinition after seeing how they could use all their numbers to win rep seaats, i wouldnt mind adding a test english for citizenshp because you are right, its not so much how current illegal aliens have been pecieved, but how all the ones who are already legal have been percieved, alot of them didnt even bother to learn english or try to fit in, but then again thats true of alot people who where born here not so much of the ones who know what the illegal struggle or years of paperwork means, theyre all too eager to join those ghetto gangs and thats really the issue, most people think immigrant = ghetto mentality, unfortunately the current residents and usc's havent really bothered much to change that stereotype, id just like to finish off by saying though, that it might just end whenever the US quits invading and screwing over all these countries al around the world and not letting them prosper on their own, do you really think america hasnt been more involved than anyone else in most of latin america's politics and economies than the news would like you to think? why do you think the term banana republics exists? sure it was mostly for raw materias and stuff but 100 years ago, thats how economies like the US wher able to prosper on to bigger and better things, with the resources of others, and robbed alot of those countries their right to move on, installing dictators to serve US interests? its really that the US wants to roget everything that its done before till all the brown ppl started showing up in their neighboorhoods, now its a problem now its alarming, when they never bothered to act years before when business was good